Contents

Here, even the wind screams. Abandoned hulks of machinery rust in the colorless landscape. Dark, oily seas beat against a jagged black shore. And the remnants of a reentry space vehicle crash into the rough waves.

In it sleeps Ripley, a woman who has battled the enemy twice. It killed her whole crew the first time. The second time, it slaughtered a spaceload of death-dealing Marines. Now, on this prison planet that houses only a horde of defiant, captive men, she will have to fight the ultimate alien horror one more time.

Overall, the novel follows the plot of the extended Assembly Cut of the film, and as such features the extra/alternate sequences added in the longer version of the movie. These include Clemens walking alone on the beach and witnessing the EEV crash,[1] the use of oxen to recover the downed pod and one of them subsequently being host for the Dragon,[2] the prisoners successfully trapping the Xenomorph in a waste storage tank and a deranged Golic later releasing the creature.[3] Other differences include:

The opening is significantly expanded to explain exactly why it is necessary to completely evacuate the USS Sulaco, and why the EEV crashes so catastrophically on Fiorina "Fury" 161. As the Facehugger attempts to pry Newt's cryotube open, it is impaled by a shard of breaking glass, causing its blood to spill and start an electrical fire under the floor, filling the chamber with explosive fumes.[4] Curiously, this Facehugger quickly dies of its injuries, meaning there are at least two of the creatures in this version of the story.[5] The fire spreads rapidly under the floor and behind the walls, destroying the sprinkler system and extractor fans in the hypersleep bay before they can control the situation. Explosive gasses quickly build up, forcing the computer to evacuate the ship.[5] Instead of the single EEV as in the film, all 10 of the Sulaco's escape pods are automatically jettisoned. However, the toxic fumes explode at the moment the pods launch, tearing open the Sulaco's hull and severely damaging the electronic systems on the launching EEVs; one of the pods swings straight around and slams back into the Sulaco, causing more explosions as the abandoned ship drifts onwards.[6] The damage to the EEV containing Ripley, Newt and Hicks causes its systems to begin failing, ultimately causing it to crash into the sea at high speed when it attempts to set down on Fiorina 161.[7]

Whereas the emergency occurs directly above Fiorina 161 in the film, the journey to the planet takes several days in the novel.[8]

The planet is known as Fiorina "Fury" 361 in the novel, not 161 as in the film.[8] Instead of an enormous prison complex, the facility is an ex-platinum ore mining colony, abandoned when fluctuations in the market value of the metal rendered it unprofitable.[9] It is mentioned that Weyland-Yutani intends to reopen the mine when the market improves, but in the meantime it is leasing the deserted complex to the prison system, with the prisoners housed there doubling as caretakers who look after the facility until it reopens.[9] Notably, the inmates in the novel are still actively serving sentences, whereas those in the film are said to have stayed on the planet of their own volition after the prison was closed.[10]

While she is unconscious in the prison's medical bay, Ripley has a nightmare about being stalked through the Sulaco's hypersleep chamber by a Xenomorph. The creature grabs her from behind and pins her to the top of Hicks' cryotube, and actually rapes her as the Corporal grins at her through the glass.[11]

Several of the characters have different personalities and appearances to the film. Notably, Dillon sports a single dreadlock on his head, despite the problems with lice at the colony.[12]Aaron still has a low IQ and serves as Andrews' unquestioning lackey in the early part of the book, once he takes command he is far more pro-active and scheming. He helps Ripley hunt the Dragon, and once it is successfully trapped he decides to use the event to his own advantage, hoping to paint an illustrious picture of his own part in the Xenomorph's capture and thereby getting himself promoted off of Fiorina and handsomely rewarded.[13] He is also more physically imposing — after the Dragon is released by Golic, Aaron floors the combative Morse with a single punch.[14]

The medical complications of being woken prematurely from hypersleep are said to be far more severe in the novel, with side-effects including respiratory/circulatory issues or cellular disruptions that could even prove fatal.[15] In the film, Ripley is unwell, but never said to be in any serious medical jeopardy.

When questioned by Clemens about the need to perform an autopsy on Newt, Ripley makes up a story about the mission to Acheron, saying Weyland-Yutani were researching various deadly bacteria and viruses on the planet and that the Colonial Marines had to destroy the facility with a nuclear strike to contain an outbreak.[16] She claims that as a result of the disease research, Newt may have contracted cholera.

As in the Assembly Cut, Frank and Murphy find the corpse of a Facehugger alongside Babe, the dead ox that acts as host to the Runner. However, in the novel it is never made clear if it is a different type (i.e. a Royal Facehugger) or simply another regular Facehugger. Frank suggests it is a jellyfish.[17]

The lead works in the prison is still in use and several of the prisoners work there. In the film it is described as having been shut down for some time.[17]

Before he is killed in the ventilation shaft, Murphy uses a laser to clean grime from the walls, not a simple shovel as in the film.[18]

It is explained that Boggs, Rains and Golic are foraging for overlooked provisions when they are attacked by the Dragon.[19] Instead of an uninhabited part of the facility, they venture into the abandoned mine shafts beneath for their search, and the candles they light are "breadcrumbs" to help them find their way back to the main complex.[20] In the film, it is never particularly clear what they are doing, although it is suggested they are mapping an abandoned part of the facility.

Instead of partially severing his head with a Headbite, the Dragon completely decapitates Boggs, twisting his head around with its hands and pulling it off of his shoulders.[21]

Ripley lies about deactivating Bishop; while she claims to his face she will follow through his request to be destroyed, she subsequently muses that he is far too useful to be discarded and intends to keep his remains.[22]

As he watches the Dragon leer over Ripley in the infirmary, Golic offers to help the Xenomorph, asking it to release him.[24] This dialogue is also in the comic adaptation of the film.

After Clemens' death, Ripley briefly considers committing suicide by taking an overdose of medication in order to escape the horror of the Xenomorph. However, she quickly decides she is stronger than that.[25]

Ripley specifically states that the Dragon is bigger than the Xenomorphs she has seen previously, and also has different legs.[26] While the creature in the film is indeed supposed to be larger than the Xenomorphs in the preceding films, this is never explicitly stated on screen. Ripley also tells the survivors that the Dragon is almost certainly building a Hive somewhere in the facility, although it is never seen.[27]

After Andrews' death, Ripley, Aaron and Dillon go looking for the creature in the ventilation ducts, starting in the shaft where Murphy was killed.[28] They discover a large dried-out husk, a discarded adult skin, indicating the Dragon is still growing (something that Ripley again suggests is unprecedented).[29] It is during this search that they find the toxic waste tank and come up with the plan to trap the Dragon in it.

During the quinitricetyline fire, the Dragon emerges and begins actively killing prisoners amidst the flames.[30] This also happens in the comic. When it is trapped inside the waste tank, it briefly attempts to batter its way out, pounding huge dents into the solidly-built door, but the structure holds and it quickly gives up.[31]

Golic kills two prisoners guarding the waste tank where the Dragon is being held, as opposed to just Arthur in the Assembly Cut, and he uses a club to do it, not a knife.[32]

Following the medical scan in the EEV, it is made clear that Ripley fully expected to find a Xenomorph embryo inside her.[33] In the film, she suspects her ill health may be the result of internal bleeding or a skull fracture, and is genuinely shocked when she learns the truth.

Ripley once again refers to the scene in the novelization (and Director's Cut) of Alien where she finds Dallas and Brett cocooned by the Alien. She also theorizes that although the Xenomorph can evidently reproduce without a Queen via "Eggmorphing", it may not be able to create a Queen in that manner, hence the need for the Queen embryo inside her.[34] This makes the book the only official source that attempts to reconcile the two methods.

When Ripley goes to hunt for the Dragon to see if it will kill her, she goes up into the vents above the infirmary (where the creature disappeared after killing Clemens), not down into the basement as in the film. Unlike the film, where she mistakes a large pipe for the Dragon, she actually attacks the creature with a pole, but it disarms her and runs away.[35]

In the novel, the Queen gestates in Ripley's uterus, with Ripley theorizing that this is because it requires more space than a typical Chestburster.[36]

In the film, Eric fires the piston in the lead works early in a panic. In the novel, he fires it at Ripley's command, but the Dragon manages to get behind the piston, leading to the second round of chasing as in the film.[37] This also happens in the comic.

The finale of the film is also slightly different. Notably, Michael Weyland and his team arrive before the Dragon is killed, watching helplessly as Morse dumps the molten lead on the creature.[38] They are heavily armed with Smartguns. Dillon successfully escapes the mold with Ripley, and prepares to break her neck as part of his promise to kill her, but finds he cannot bring himself to do it. At that moment, the Dragon emerges from the lead and drags Dillon back into the molten metal, killing him.[39] Ripley then kills the creature as in the film. Dillon's alternate death is also featured in the comic.

As he is trying to convince Ripley to come with him, Weyland claims Carter Burke had been operating alone during the events of Aliens, painting him as a rogue agent rather than a representative of the company's interests.[40] He also reveals the name of the company ship that brought him to Fiorina, the Patna.[41]

Finally, the novel clears up how Ripley's signing off message from the end of Alien can be heard coming from the EEV, when there is no reasonable way a recording of it could be stored on the pod; the radio message is instead lingering in space, and is picked up by the radio equipment on board the EEV.[42]

Acheron was misspelt "Archeron" in initial editions of the book; later versions correct this.

Originally, Alan Dean Foster wanted his adaptation to differ from the film's script, which he disliked. Chiefly, he wanted to keep Newt alive. According to Foster, "My thought ... was to explain that her capsule was damaged and that she would therefore have to remain in deep sleep until it could be repaired. That way, she remains alive but inactive for the duration of the story, Ripley's motivation to fight to remain alive in order to sustain her is maintained, and Newt's status being iffy (she can live or die at any time) adds another element of suspense to the film."[43] Foster also drew up back stories for many of the inmate characters, to add additional motivation for them.[44] However, the producers responded that he was not permitted to alter the storyline and rejected all of the material he had planned to include. As a result of the experience, Foster later turned down the novelization of Alien Resurrection,[44] which was ultimately written by A. C. Crispin.